Zephyr
by ame-kouu
Summary: Naruto ran off, gone with the west wind. Because, Sasuke, you had me there. Did you have to attack me? I trusted you. Really, I did. [SasuNaru NejiSaku ShikaIno] [Side pairings along in the story] Timeskip before and after Save Gaara arc.
1. Chapter 1: Exodus

**Zephyr.  
chapter.one:.:exodus**

Disclaimer; We own naught, we swear. 'Cept the story plot.

Be warned; NejiSaku ShikaIno Mild KakaIru SasuNaru  
Haru and Kaori: Have fun reading, cause we (at least Kaori did) had fun writing!

Rain pounded down mercilessly on the shadowy figure of a certain shinobi which swiftly tree-hopped, never seeming to mind the rain which dripped from the hood he was wearing, even though it drenched him through and would have any ordinary person down with a high fever. But then again, this was no ordinary shinobi.

Soon, Sasuke was in the shelter of the village gates. Again, if he were anybody else, even some other shinobi, he would have been crawling from exhaustion, but in all his Uchiha pride he pulled himself straight and managed to stagger back home, where he had a brief struggle with the door knob. Grunting in annoyance, he finally got it open and managed to drag his corpse of a body up the stairs and into his bed, where he collapsed without a care for the world in his bed.

Reaching into the pocket of the forest green chuunin vest, he fingered the two scrolls inside. Due to the heavy downpour of rain and his current lack of energy, he decided, in a rather Shikamaru-like manner, that he was indeed exhausted and should get some rest, and return said retrieved scrolls the next day. Tsunade could wait.

Satisfied with his successful mission, himself, and the world in general, Sasuke sunk into the soft sheets with Uchiha-fan prints, not bothering himself with the fact that he was still grimy with mud. It wasn't long before the sandman heaved his sack of sand over Sasuke, who obligingly gave in. The digital clock next to him beeped 2:00 AM.

* * *

At 5 AM he woke up rather grumpily. Three hours of sleep wasn't good for anyone, not even the Green Beautiful Beast of Konoha, and _definitely _not enough for our angsty sixteen year old. It continued pouring outside. After his usual morning rituals, Sasuke then slid into an old yukata, sat down at his dining table, sipped tea and read 'The Daily Ninja Times', which was pretty much useless gossip which he often scorned, yet read anyway, just so that if Ino came pouncing upon him screaming about useless gossip just like the annoying screechy version of The Daily Ninja Times she was, he could honestly grump at her, "I _know_." 

Itachi, poised perfectly on a tree branch and sharingan eyes activated as was his custom, watched his foolish younger brother alertly. Perhaps…yes, perhaps now would be the time to present such an opportunity to his brother. His foolish younger brother would surely appreciate such an offer. Itachi leaned forward and scanned the windows around him, tactfully calculating his chances of sliding in through a window easily without being noticed. After all, even the best shinobi wouldn't have an easy time getting in through a creaky, not lubricated window noiselessly.

"CREEEAAAAKKK!!!"

Sasuke whipped his head around sharply, and stared at the soaked Itachi. _That man_… he thought in pure anger and hatred, wishing he had a kunai or something near him.

Caught in the act of not being very smart, Itachi decided to act like he was now an amazingly sweet older brother whom Sasuke couldn't _wait_ to meet every year. "Shit, Otouto, how was I, the almighty great Uchiha Itachi, supposed to know that was the creaky window from 9 years ago?" he asked, scratching his head in embarrassment. Sasuke had no choice but to momentarily have a truce with his brother…that _man_ who had _killed_ his entire _bloody clan_.

Soon, Itachi was sitting down leisurely, sipping tea with his little brother, whose head hurt with looking at that man without attempting attack on him. So much hatred…he had to bottle it up.

"Foolish younger brother, I have a deal for you."

Sasuke looked up from his minute tea cup which was covered in the fan-prints of the oh so prideful Uchiha clan, "What deal?" he drawled, glaring sharply at Itachi.

"You know about the Kyuubi," Sasuke listened and nodded, "and here's something that, even for all the things you may hate me for, I can tell you truthfully-" he scrutinized his brother's blank expression before continuing-"you are able to extract demons."

Sasuke blinked. If he were, say, Sakura, he would have screamed. Inside, he felt like crying and yet dancing around. So many things, one could do with such a power--! So many things! His head swam with thoughts that came in swiftly, depositing what their whimsical notions that could yet so easily come true with what Itachi had just told him, and as quickly as they had come, disappeared into nothing.

"For centuries, the Uchiha clan has a 'chosen one' who is able to extract demons-"

Sasuke sighed in pure annoyance. "Itachi? If this is one of your attempts to kill me again, then it's not going to work. Even if you said you weren't lying, this is seriously starting to sound stupid, and it's taking all of my will to not kill you. What you're saying is so _pathetic_ that it makes you sound like a _pathetic_, _low-down_ lousy story," he snarled.

Itachi twitched with annoyance as well. This wasn't going properly. His brother was supposed to listen to him. He thought of when his brother realised he'd killed his friend, even though right now to his brother he'd figure said friend was just another obstacle in his path of killing him, and how much more his brother would be upset. He smirked inwardly; outside, he put on a cold, blank, business-like façade.

"Close your mouth, you foolish entity. I didn't kill you because this is the whole _point_ of the deal. I am not lying either; this ability is just a further extension of our bloodline limit." He leaned in closer, eyes glinting. "My dear little brother, if you will extract the Kyuubi from Uzumaki Naruto, then-" he leaned back, waiting for his brother's upcoming reaction "-I will let you fight me fairly as and when you like," he finished.

Sasuke considered this; he'd finally be able to kill that-that _beast_ who wasn't allowed to live, that _miserable excuse_ of a human being, one which he hated so much with his soul, and yet had to turn to a pathetic snake-man by the name of Orochimaru for help. Not only that, but he'd finally get rid of Naruto. Not bad at all, not bad. Not bad of a deal for a _hateful_ monkey like Itachi to think of. When he was done with these two deaths he would be able to get rid of Orochimaru with all his bottled-up hate; it had taken him so much, and caused him so much pain to turn away. All the wounds that Orochimaru had inflicted burned furiously, telling him to go back to the evil snake lord. Oh, but he would not. He might kill his brother, but never-_never_ again would he turn to evil. He'd let down too many people.

Nodding curtly, Sasuke loosely shook Itachi's hand, indicating he agreed. Itachi nodded, and vanished.

The deal was made.

* * *

Sakura pursed her lips in a grim, straight line as she examined her opponent in front of her. Yamanaka Ino. Former best friend, then Arch Rival, then now, best friend again. Both girls had admitted a total loss of interest in Uchiha Sasuke. They'd began to realise he really wasn't that much, and while girls all swooned over his annoyed, biting attitude, they'd grown to be annoyed instead of swooning with them.

Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru leaned against trees, one eying the battle in mild curiosity and examining the way the girls fought, and the other half asleep, watching the clouds as they drifted listlessly, aimlessly, to a better place.

Ino jumped. Sakura easily dodged, caught Ino by the ankle, and, as gently as possible, threw Ino into a nearby tree. Ino noticed the way Sakura held back, and smiled to herself. Couldn't bear to hurt her best friend in training, huh? Didn't matter, because Ino was like that, too. Crashing straight into a tree but only feeling some numbness and no pain, she silently thanked Sakura. Her inhuman strength was creepy, after all. Ino wasn't the only one who noticed this. The two males watching noted that even in battle, Sakura acted much like the medic nin and good friend she was, refraining from actually doing any very serious harm. Sakura herself just smirked smugly, flipping backwards and landing crouched. Wasting no time, the girls went at each other again.

Off white-silver eyes followed the two girls' every movement with ease, surprised at Sakura's speed and Ino's tact. They were pretty well matched, in all truth, if one didn't count the major factor of Sakura's inhuman strength. The rule of the training: first one who pins the other down for more than five seconds wins. Five seconds was, after all, plenty time to kill your opponent.

Sakura seemed to be getting mildly impatient. Drawing two kunai, she leaned forward and ran, feet barely touching the ground. Ino did similarly, and cold metals met. However, Sakura, making use of this connection, levered herself using the touch of the kunai and flipped herself over Ino's head, turning around swiftly, and then sitting on said platinum blonde's back.

"Oi- What the hell? SAKURA-BILLBOARD-BROW, GET YOUR FAT ASS OFF ME!" screamed Ino, attempting to push Sakura off. Sakura, though mildly annoyed at the comment about her weight, just smirked and pushed down harder. Being Tsunade's student had loads of perks. For example, the inhuman strength. Other examples included being able to hold her sake really well, et cetera. Neji, eyes barely showing the smallest tint of amusement, called in his cool voice, "Sakura wins."

Grinning in triumph, Sakura, ever the showy rosette-haired one she was, flipped backwards and did a graceful dance which also helped in calming the body after a battle. Shikamaru clapped lazily, then slurred, "Can we _go_ now? Tch, how troublesome." Ino just grinned widely at him and dragged him off, leaving Sakura alone with the Hyuuga prodigy. Sakura smiled at him, then said, cheerily, "I'm going home now, bye-bye Neji-san!" before turning around to bounce off.

What she _really, really_ didn't expect was for addressed Hyuuga to slowly turn around and walk after her, quickly catching up to her pace. "I'll walk you home," he offered, looking straight ahead. Sakura could _definitely_ feel a blush spreading up her pale milky complexion. It wasn't long before they reached her house. Staring up at the tall, muscular (ooh, thought Inner) Hyuuga, she beamed yet again. "Thank you for walking me home!" she exclaimed, _radiating_ happiness. Neji, turned partly sideways, looked down at her, and for a moment their gazes met and locked, turning Sakura's light blush into an almost-scarlet shade. "Hn," he noted, nodding just slightly, before walking off.

She stared after him a bit, feeling just jubilant. She didn't quite know why, and couldn't quite place the feeling. Unbeknownst to her, it was the feeling that she had gotten back when she was just twelve, four years ago, whenever Sasuke said anything to her.

Oh, yes, the girl was falling. And she didn't even know.

* * *

**end chapter  
**Enjoyed? Disliked? Please tell us with your constructive criticism (or plain old flattering, we don't mind that one)! It really would be appreciated!

**If you are looking for yaoi, then this is not the place. We do not write very explicit things. We may write boylove, but not actual yaoi (yaoi is, technically, _heavy_ boylove, inclusive of smut). Sorry if this comes as disappointing news.**

And, yeah, sorry that it's short :x


	2. Chapter 2: Pieces of Me

**Zephyr.  
chapter.two:.:piecesofme**

Disclaimer; We don't own Naruto! We own our cheese and toes, and that's all!

* * *

Be warned; NejiSaku ShikaIno KakaIru SasuNaru  
Haru and Kaori: Have fun reading, cause we're insane and love you!

* * *

Slurp.

Slurrp.

Sluuuurrrrppp!

SLUUUUUURRRRRRPPP!!!!

Naruto looked like the cat which got the cream, the mouse which got the cheese, the bird who got the worm…the blockhead who got the ramen. Slurpy Slurp Slurp.

Kakashi whacked his head on the table of Ichiraku Ramen Bar repeatedly. In fact, he looked pretty much like a moron. The noise from Naruto was killing him, and every time that boy went SLURP he died a little bit more inside. Pretty soon he'd be totally dead. Nobody seemed to come to his rescue, but he _did_ get stares from both Naruto and Iruka, though.

"Eh, Kakashi-sensei, what're you doing?" Cue sweatdrop from Naruto, ever the innocent idiot who didn't realise everything was his fault, really it was.

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you okay?" Iruka asked, alarmed, dropping his chopsticks into his ramen and, holding Kakashi's head firmly, began to check it, tilting it this way and that, carefully pressing the silver locks and ensuring there were no bumps on it. Iruka firmly ignored the blush that was slowly but very surely creeping up his neck. His mother-hen instincts were in full blast.

"Yeah, thanks for caring," Kakashi grinned sheepishly, looking a bit like a child caught stealing the cookies from the cookie jar and continued to watch Naruto slurp up his ramen. Iruka's blush deepened still.

_Did that just come out of my mouth? Yes, it did. Holy shit, _thought Kakashi to himself.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" yelled the loud-mouthed blonde, who, being clueless, hadn't noticed the pure chemistry of the moment. "I WANT MORE RAMEN-TTEBAYO!"

Iruka smiled at Naruto, and ordered more.

* * *

Sakura twisted her hair into a messy bun, skillfully sliding the pink metal hairclip into place. After checking that her dress and moisturizer-she didn't need any makeup- were properly put on, she promptly plopped herself into her bed (where, if one looked carefully enough, they could've sworn there was a Sakura-the GIRL-shaped dent) and sighed deep into her pillow.

_Neji walked you ho-ome, ho-ome, ho-ome, Neji walked you ho-ome, he had you blushing red. Hey!_ Sang Inner Sakura, her companion who had helped her so many times, even in helping her rid Ino from her body, decided just then to torment her. She groaned and mumbled a 'shut up' out loud, without really noticing she'd done so.

Neji. Neeejjjiii. NEJI. Hyuuga Prodigy. General opinion was that he was better than the Uchiha. He was better-looking, too, Sakura found herself thinking, thoughts wandering FAR away from the subject at hand. She caught herself, though. Woah. Cute? Aaaagh, the world was turning against her. She buried her head even more deeply into a pillow. She'd be seeing him again later, too, damn it!

Outside, Ino rang the doorbell and tapped her foot impatiently. "Hurry up, we don't have all day, forehead-girl!" she called agitatedly, and started hopping around like an irritated child. (which, by most peoples' standards, she was.)

As Sakura stepped out, she was immediately pulled off by Ino to go shopping.

**

* * *

Two hours later; 11.00 AM  
"Ne, ne, INO-CHAN, I'm getting tired!" Sakura complained as Ino continued dragging her from store to store. In all truth, Sakura hadn't bought that many clothes, just about two shirts and a skirt. Ino, however, was a different case. The Yamanaka had bought seven shirts, two mini-skirts, five pairs of jeans, and a pair of shoes. Sakura briefly wondered why Ino always said she had a shortage of clothes to wear, but shrugged it off. The reason why Sakura was tired? Ino claimed that with her inhuman strength, she had no reason to object. And although our dear cherry blossom did protest true and hard……well, yeah. She failed. Miserably.**

"Eh! There's a café! Come on, Ino-buta, let's go in!" Sakura had resorted to calling Ino by her much-hated nickname, and happily went into the café. Itadakimasu! Said the bright café sign, and Sakura rolled her eyes inwardly. Gosh, what a bad name for a café. Still, food and rest was food and rest, so she had no qualms.

Going in, the two girls spied Neji and Shikamaru. Without caring WHY they were there, the two girls joyously (Ino was joyous-Sakura's arms were falling off) went towards them.

"Yo, Nej, Shika!" greeted Ino cheerily, waving at them.

"Bloody Ino", mumbled Sakura, nodding at the boys as a sign of acknowledgement.

The two boys, in unison, turned their heads to look at the girls, and nodded back.

"Hn." Neji had veins popping out from under his eye, and no, it wasn't from his Byakugan, it was from irritation at such a bad nickname. Fangirls squealed.

"Hn." Shikamaru glared at Ino for such a nickname and rolled his eyes. A smaller lot of fangirls squealed.

The two boys then turned their heads back to each other.

"How troublesome."

"I hate waiting."

If communicating meant 'directing short comments to one another', the guys were getting along just fine.

But nooooo. The waitresses just HAD to be totally infatuated with either Neji or Shikamaru, and spent about thirty minutes getting them food because they were really applying another five centimeters (two inches, you evil non-metric people you) of makeup to their faces.

Cheerily Ino plopped herself next to Shikamaru. Dropping the shopping bags of Ino at her feet and holding her two shopping bags to herself, Sakura grumbled some more and sat next to Neji.

* * *

"Here's your food, handsomes!" said two…uh, _bouncy_ waitresses who had about three inches more than the usual standard of makeup applied on.

"Hn, how troublesome," the guys must be spending too much time with each other – they were perfectly in sync!

The waitresses continued looking at them and batting their eyelids flirtatiously. Neji needed to puke, badly, but then he'd be mobbed by girls, so he tried a different tactic. Putting his head on Sakura's shoulder, he mumbled, "Eh, sorry…I need to get the girls off my back", into her ear. Reddening some, Sakura nodded dumbly. Neji then casually wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her onto his lap. Shikamaru, getting the cue, pulled Ino over and rested his head on her shoulder comfortably, Ino looking much like Sasuke's favourite food. The waitresses stood there for about seven minutes, then, slowly, nodded, finally getting the message, and walked off.

Ino, Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru stayed in those positions as they continued eating.

You know, the funny thing is that they all found themselves to be quite, _quite_ enjoying it.

* * *

"…And she was, like, so totally grossed out."

A bimbo laugh followed, "Really? Oh my god, I can't believe he actually said that!"

"No _duh_!" High-pitched giggling noises that sounded more like choking.

Neji and Shikamaru gaped in horror at the pink, pink store-complex in front of them.  
Well, maybe not. Neji's whitish-pearl eyes seemed to glaze over in mild horror, and Shikamaru couldn't stop mumbling "Troublesome". Oh yeah, and the girls had made them carry the shopping bags.

Sakura and Ino seemed happy enough, gathering nail polish, lingerie and clothes by the dozen, and dumping them in the numerous shopping carts the boys were manning.

Neji smiled privately as he found that he knew a lot of Sakura's quirks just by watching her, the way she would give off a mildly happy vibe once she'd found something she liked, the way she stood poised whenever she was going into battle…so many things. The things that made Sakura _her_.

Shikamaru couldn't believe himself, but he was watching Ino carefully and could predict what she was going to do next. Every single little thing. Ino was a bit like a cloud, whimsical, light, free, and with her own X-factor. She was her. No other combination of characteristics could have made Ino who she was.

The boys were pulled out of their observations by the girls who were screaming behind them.

"Oh my god, that boy is, like, SO HAAWWWTTT! Like, hello, long hair is SO in. Oh, yeah, nice muscles" Neji scowled inwardly; outside he just gave the girls glares, which made them scatter while singing praises about hotness.

"I'll dump for his ass," Shikamaru twitched at the 'flattering' comment directed toward his rear end. Gosh, how _troublesome_, didn't those girls know it was troublesomely rude?

Sakura and Ino gave the impression that they were not paying any attention to the feedback on the/their boys, but if one looked closely enough, they were twitching as they paid for stuff bought. Casually, though with rather stiff steps, they sauntered out of the mall, dragging the bag-covered (and relieved) boys with them.

They, however, knew the boys detested being ogled. Which was why they'd bought some clothes they'd not even tried on yet in somewhat of a hurry. Each girl smiled fondly to herself as she thought of the boy she was dragging-'s reaction to being ogled. They knew their ways.

* * *

The pieces of each other.**

* * *

end chapter.  
Was it cool? Huh? Huh:D Review please, we'll love you, really we will.**

...btw, 29 hits? In 24 hours? Ouch, is our writing that unappetizing?

Was it cool? Huh? Huh:D Review please, we'll love you, really we will...btw, 29 hits? In 24 hours? Ouch, is our writing that unappetizing? 


	3. Chapter 3: Whisper

**Zephyr.  
chapter.three:.:whisper**

* * *

Disclaimer; We don't own Naruto! We would pay a cent for it though!

Be warned; NejiSaku ShikaIno KakaIru SasuNaru; this chapter has hints of KoIzu  
Haru and Kaori: Oh, just read already, won't you.

* * *

Neji and Shikamaru, hampered by Sakura and Ino's shopping (even though Neji had much easier a time), weren't exactly in the best of moods as they were forced to walk the girls home by Ino. Sakura and Ino, however, seemed rather pleased and were bouncing along (at least Ino was) as they headed towards home, before they were rudely interrupted by Izumo and Kotetsu.

"The Hokage's assistants?" Sakura asked herself before having her thoughts rudely interrupted by Kotetsu clearing his throat really loudly. Like a trumpet.

"Ahem, the Hokage would like to meet Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino in her office immediately. We don't know why, so don't ask us, 'kay." Izumo just stood by the side to nod at his every word, helpfully.

Grinning pervertedly, Kotetsu continued, "And hurry up, cause I wanna make out with 'zumo in the janitor's closet. You are welcomed to peek, but don't interrupt. 'Nade'll kill us if you guys don't go, so go already," before he grabbed Izumo, completed the hand seals for a teleportation jutsu and poofed off in a cloud of smoke.

Somewhere in Konoha Ninja School, a few kids opened the janitor's closet door thinking it would be a good place to hide with their professional ninja skills, and, screaming, fainted upon seeing a sight that children really aren't supposed to.

* * *

"Poor Izumo," the three chuunin and one jounin muttered in sync. Well, almost. Sakura added fake tears, Shikamaru added a 'troublesome', Neji scowled mildly, and Ino squealed something about Kotetsu not being the best kisser.

The two shinobi and two kunoichi, deciding that they should hurry, leaned forward so that they would be able to run better, and, sandal-footed feet tapping lightly on the ground, soon found themselves arriving at the Hokage's office, where Tsunade was tapping her pen on the table impatiently, and swigging some sake. The four stood silently for a moment, wondering why Tsunade wasn't even saying anything, before they were joined by another presence in the room. Oh, yes, and a lot of smoke.

"Hello everyone, I was late because I saw an old lady whose cat was stuck in the tree in the backyard of the Hyuuga garden and she couldn't get up and I was going to help her and it took me aaages, but I finally got to that stubborn feline, but it wouldn't come down and kept trying to bite me. So, I was late."

There was silence for a moment. Sakura wished Naruto was there; he would've screamed "LIAR!" before Kakashi could say anything further, but then again, the group she was currently with would never have screamed. Except for Ino, but Ino would have probably screamed something about cute cats, if not for the fact that Kakashi's ever-so-beautifully crafted and elaborated tale sounded quite fake.

"…We don't believe you, Kakashi," informed Sakura, calmly. Ino nodded.

Kakashi sighed sadly. He really was helping that old lady get the cat out of the tree. No one saw the importance of the elderly in the society nowadays.

Even though, y'know, it just happened that that old lady offered him the latest volumes of Icha Icha.

* * *

Turns out, Tsunade had just gotten news from Rice Country that there were some suspicious ninja activities involving thievery of heirlooms, along with several deaths. This being so, they were sent there to investigate and were allowed to kill as needed, even though they would have to retain people for investigation.

After the mission briefing, our teens excused themselves -the girls finally consenting to take their clothing bags home themselves- where they promptly got changed into their shinobi/kunoichi gear, and packed the information scrolls and any other necessities including foodstuffs and extra changes of clothing.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, Sasuke, with blood-red Sharingan eyes, had captured every detail from the window. Good. He had at least seven days to execute his tries. It couldn't be too hard. That's what his mind said, but his heart protested against.

* * *

Naruto was slurping his ramen as usual at his kitchen counter. Suddenly, he felt a strong presence behind him. Thinking of the only possible person, he turned around.

"Is that you, Iruka-sensei?" he asked gleefully, before his eyes widened in fear.

He was face-to-face with the spinning eyes of death.

Sakura paused packing for a while. Her cheek tinted red as she recalled…what had happened not too long ago.

_**Flashback**  
Neji handed Sakura her bags almost unwillingly. Grinning in mild embarrassment, she rubbed the back of her head in a very Naruto-esque way before saying, "Ne, ne, domo arigatou, Neji-san!" _

Neji only hn-ed.

Before Sakura turned away and walked off, blushing mildly because their hands had made contact, Neji said in an almost inaudible tone of voice:

"It's 'Neji'. No –sans or –kuns needed."

However, what she didn't_ notice was that Neji's mouth curled briefly into a smile.  
**End Flashback**._

Sakura smiled briefly before resuming her packing.

She really was quite the amazed person, in all truth. To think that Hyuuga Neji, a guy whom she'd once ignored in pursuit of a certain Uchiha, was actually quite civil, and all in all not that bad to be around. In fact, if he wasn't who he was, she would bet that by now, Neji might just consider her of friend level!

Being the social, friend-loving person Sakura was, it was with a delighted, if rather childish, smile adorning her face that she slung the bag over her shoulder, and headed out of her house to meet the others.

* * *

Ino combed her hair back neatly into her usual hairstyle before plopping her things into her bag and having a momentary recall.

_**Flashback**  
"Gosh, Ino, how troublesome. You've bought so many clothes that they're really heavy", drawled the Nara genius lazily. _

"Eheheh, sorry, neh, Shika!" Ino said sheepishly, rubbing her head with her tongue out in embarrassment. "But, you know, a pretty girl like me needs lots of clothes!" She said, reaching over to take the bags from Shikamaru.

As their hands almost met, Shikamaru looked down at her and mumbled something which she almost didn't catch.

He'd whispered, "Yeah. I know."

Her heart had nearly stopped.  
**End Flashback. **

Ino realised to herself that in all actuality and fairness to Shikamaru, she'd never really paid that much attention to him. Through being in his team along Chouji, she'd actually become good friends with him.

She smiled widely before looking at the sky, realizing she was running late, and hurriedly grabbing her bag before running out of the house.

* * *

Sasuke tree-hopped with deadly speed toward Naruto's house. _This is easy_, he thought to himself, _no doubt Naruto will be eating ramen. It's miso ramen day today for him. _

He then jerked backwards, balancing precariously on a tree branch as dozens of thoughts rushed through his head.

Finally, an extremely clear one boldly presented itself to him.

_Why on earth do I know Naruto so well? _

Shaking the thought from his head, he continued, and it wasn't long before he reached Naruto's house.

Lazily slipping in through a window, he darted through the small house and soon was right behind Naruto.

Said blonde turned around and asked in a cheerful tone of voice, "Is that you, Iruka-sensei?" before freezing, his cerulean blue eyes widening in fear.

Sasuke's sharingan were spinning as he pinned his gaze on Naruto.

_I don't want to do this, _he thought heavily to himself.

_You can kill Itachi. He won't run. All you need to do is train before finally avenging your family. Isn't that what you've always wanted?_ Resounded a disbelieving voice in his head.

_You're right. I have to. It's all I live for. _

Sasuke looked at Naruto and sighed. In the sigh, if one had sharp ears like Naruto, you would have heard him.

Heard him say, "I'm sorry. I would never want to hurt you."

Before Naruto could widen his eyes in shock and go "Sa-Sasuke-teme? What are you t-talking about?" Sasuke pulled six kunai from his weapon pouch and twirled them, the deadly silver blades catching the fragile light from Naruto's dimly flickering lights in his kitchen, three blades in each hand.

_Naruto…he'd saved me from the dark even with all his stupidity. _

He'd helped me so many times.

He was an actual friend. Even though Sakura eventually became an actual friend to me, she originally started with insane fangirlism.

_  
Why…why do I really have to do this? _

Itachi.

I'm sorry, Naruto. I wasn't lying.

He surged forward.

A plastic orange bowl fell to the ground, its contents spilling out. A white fishcake with pink swirls :1: was stepped on.

A shout of "What the _hell_ are you doing, Sasuke?!?" was heard.

Naruto's world pretty much collapsed.

Down the street, Iruka looked up sharply from his book.

_Naruto!--_  
**

* * *

end chapter.**

:1: In case you don't get it, they're called narutos. It's a likening of things. He was crushed, seeing Sasuke attack him.

Haru: I know it's short xD  
Kaori: You see now it's about 1400 words? Haru wrote about 400 as a main idea. Don't you all thank me for my wunderbar-ness o.O  
Oh, yes, and we know it's an evil cliffhanger. And sorry that it was mushy and slightly lame. ): 90 hits. Gosh, I feel so special : (

By the time Kaori is posting this, by the way (and is currently typing this out), we have written up to chapter ten already. Heh. Please review? Pleaseeee ):


	4. Chapter 4: Crawling

**Zephyr.  
chapter.four:.:crawling**

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Disclaimer; Yes, we own Naruto, every moment is about pairings. Whaddya THINK, punk?

Be warned; NejiSaku ShikaIno KakaIru SasuNaru, hints of KoIzu  
Haru and Kaori: Oh, just read already, won't you.

**

* * *

IMPORTANT NOTE:**

From here on, this story may not just include NejiSaku, ShikaIno, KakaIru and SasuNaru, but hints of other pairings as well. Warnings will be placed at the start of every chapter though. The other pairings are pretty minor, so don't bother much about them.

* * *

As our three dear chuunin… And yes… We didn't forget the miserable jounin, walked out of the Grand Wooden Gates of Konoha™, they felt a strange impulse to run back and check on Naruto, but blocked the feeling with their own thoughts. Naruto would probably be safe within the village gates. It wasn't even like anybody really wanted to kill him at all; they were probably just paranoid. No Akatsuki, no Orochimaru, no evil being (except Kakashi-sensei and Godaime-Tsunade, but they're probably busy). Naruto would be safe.

Inner Sakura was having a whale of a time. _Hehe, Hyuuga Sakura… We can call the kids Nekura or Saji… Or we could name them Sasuke, Lee, Naruto…._

Sakura inwardly scowled even though she was blushing, therefore resulting in a lovely strange pink face which had a really ticked off expression. Annoyed, she locked Inner Sakura up in a treasure chest, the key being thrust into some other entity's hands.

Neji was harassed by Inner Neji. Who knew Neji had an Inner? _You and Sakura? Oh! Oh! I know! Call your kids Lee, Tenten and Gai! Possibly Hinata, Hizashi and Hiashi!_

Poor Neji, being tortured by evilly having his children named after overly youthful people, or family members he hated. Hinata-sama was okay… she really wasn't like the other family members. He knew for a fact that she would probably give him her place…if not for his juin. He really had no luck in this life, did he. Mildly annoyed, he shut Inner Neji, who was amazingly rowdy and acted somewhat like a drunk Naruto, into a closet. With quadruple-enhanced-security-system-locks.

Meanwhile, Ino was bouncing along at just about the same pace as Shikamaru, when, suddenly, she felt a warm hand enclose hers. She stopped, surprised-it felt good, in actuality. She looked down and saw their hands intertwined. Questioningly she cocked her head at Shikamaru, who was doing his best to look everywhere but their hands, and, smirking to herself, she slowed down, and they walked together, Shikamaru eventually looking back to walking normally, and grinning inwardly.

* * *

With a flick of a wrist, several midnight-black kunai were once again sent the way of the Kyuubi container. Ignoring his feelings for the moment, Naruto flipped out of the way, the kunai embedding themselves hilt-deep into one of his cabinets. If not for his reflexes, he would have been fox meat.  
The cabinet was the least of his worries now, though. He had to get out of here. Fast.

Swiftly and almost running doubled-over, Naruto made his way to his door, hoping to get out. It was locked. He tried the knob again, urgently, but it wouldn't budge, and, Naruto, being the paranoid person he was, had ensured that his door was built extremely sturdily. Even the _chidori_ would barely leave a small dent in it. Swearing and cursing his own paranoia and lousy luck, Naruto whipped around and was about to head for his window when he realised Sasuke was staring there.

_Whatever happened to 'you've become my most important person', Sasuke? _

I'll make it out of here-ttebayo, but…these wounds…you had my trust. You took it around and slammed it right into my face. They will not heal easily. Even time may not be healing enough.

I guess now it's fear and you against me, eh? Bring it on, teme.

The sharingan, as if in response to his challenge, began swirling even faster. They spun so fast that they became deep, endless whirlpools of crimson. Crimson red.

Blood.

They were sucking his soul and life, he could feel it. Trembling like a thin broken willow after a particularly heavy thunderstorm, the orange jumpsuit-clad figure leaned against his yellow-beige walls in pure horror. _Fear again. It's how I fall.  
_  
Sasuke pulled out several shuriken, hoping to disable his prey, or at least render him immobile for a few minutes, just enough for him to be tied up and demon extracted. For a moment, Naruto felt that he'd been hit by the shuriken; he couldn't even really tell what was real anymore. His head pounded heavily, but he focused and saw that Sasuke hadn't thrown the shuriken yet. Desperately, searching for anything, Naruto scanned the apartnment.

His mind clicked as he summoned a few Kage Bunshin.

_Feh,_ thought Sasuke, _those are useless against the Sharingan. He…he knows me so well; he definitely knows this. What is this _idiot_ going to do? Commit suicide?_

Rather unexpectedly, Naruto and his clones started spinning cerulean orbs that appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke's Sharingan eyes widened as they were smashed against the wall, plaster and cement crumbling around them, far into a stage of disrepair. The top of the apartment collapsed as Naruto made his escape. It didn't matter to Naruto. Nothing really did, at that moment.

Hurriedly, he dashed off.

The debris slowly cleared, and Sasuke made off after Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke frowned and hopped to the top of a rather tall tree, knowing that a bright orange jumpsuit wouldn't be hard to spot, even from high altitudes.

A cruel, almost sadistic smirk formed on his face as he spotted a certain blonde in the Southern Forest. He leaped forward.

* * *

Naruto paused at a huge root of one of those ten-meter-radius-trunk trees and panted mildly, sparing a moment to glance at the root. Inscribed on it, neatly, was "Momo Loves Koko!" (1) What the hell? But then, Naruto thought wistfully, at least once there was someone here who was having enough fun to write such a thing.

He felt a deadly presence behind him, and knew immediately it was Sasuke. Suddenly, he felt the weariness in his bones. He didn't know what the teme wanted, damnit, but he would have to give it to him now or sometime in the future, wasn't that so? He growled and turned around to proudly face the Uchiha.

"Finally stopped running, I see," Sasuke drawled, pulling a kunai from his pocket and toying lightly with it.

Tears streaming from his pretty turquoise eyes, Naruto shouted at Sasuke in anger.  
"What do you _want_, teme?"  
He knew Sasuke used to be his to-the-death-rival. Still…still! This wasn't supposed to happen! It wasn't! It _wasn't_! Thoughts clouded his mind; distracting him. He shook his head, then stood straight, facing Sasuke, eyes still tearing some.

His world had collapsed about half an hour ago, and now it seemed nothing could ever build it back. He couldn't find himself, no, he couldn't. All he knew was that Sasuke had attacked him.

Honestly, he didn't know what to do.

Except his only option; fight back.

* * *

Iruka ran out of his apartment hurriedly, looking both ways. Following his instincts he headed straight to Naruto's house. Using Naruto's spare key to let himself in, the chuunin gaped in horror, fear clouding his eyes, as he saw the mess left by the hole in the wall. He noted the kunai embedded in the cabinet.

Filled with dread, he approached the blade.

Engraved in its hilt was a small Uchiha paper fan.

Somehow, he didn't think it was Itachi.

Iruka ran for the forest, biting his lip as he thought of what he would find there.

* * *

Sasuke scowled. "Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!" he shouted, forming seals and blowing trails of scorching fire towards Naruto. Flipping out of the way, Naruto brushed a few of his singed blonde locks out of the way.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto said, summoning an animal. It lunged for Sasuke, who deftly dodged it, caught it, and threw it back at Naruto. The Kyuubi boy scooted out of the way just in time.

Sasuke yet again blew streams of fire, along with throwing shuriken. Naruto growled and ignored the rip in his sleeve, along with the blood that was oozing out of it, all the crimson red blood.

Naruto forced himself forward, and they went into taijutsu combat. Sasuke had always been more of a jutsu user, and so had Naruto, so they were more or less evenly matched. Running up a tree, the Uchiha suddenly disappeared from sight.

Naruto looked around warily, aware of the fact that said Uchiha would attack from anywhere. He felt his chakra getting closer, but somehow, that signal kept getting stronger by about three parts, then weaker by about one. _Why is he jumping to and fro?_ He wondered. The youngest living Sharingan user's chakra suddenly disappeared, however, and Naruto was again on the guard.

"Don't just watch your back, watch your feet, dobe." A voice resounded, and before Naruto could react, Sasuke had emerged from the ground, his hand with a vice grip around the blonde's ankle. He smirked as he pushed himself out and stood eye to eye with Naruto, holding his ankle. All in all, the position would have looked somewhat like Naruto had attempted to kick him and he stopped it.

Sasuke squeezed Naruto's ankle until it was bleeding rather badly, then pushed himself backward. Naruto squinted, and caught sight of him standing on a tree branch.

Before Naruto could do much, Sasuke sent ten shuriken at him. _If he wants to kill me so badly, why shuriken? I know he carries loads of kunai wherever he goes…  
_Only two caught him in the knees. All in all, Naruto figured, it was a waste of shuriken.

However, Naruto had been forced backwards somewhat with the force of the shuriken, and suddenly found he couldn't move very well. "Na-nani?!?" he said, confused. He struggled some more, and lost even more of his mobility. "E-ehh?" he said, before noticing the thin, thin lines that were surrounding him.

Realization dawned upon him. _Sharingan-created strings!_ He thought, cursing himself for his stupidity. Sasuke's jumping to and fro had been to _set up these strings_. He'd even given Naruto a chance by not bothering to hide his chakra even though he wouldn't have had to try very hard to, yet Naruto hadn't noticed anything. Sasuke jumped down from the tree, and, walking toward Naruto, smirked.

Naruto felt a strange sinking feeling of déjà vu as he desperately looked around him, then remembered something.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said, and even with some trouble making the seals, he managed to create about fifteen clones.

" Naruto Ninpocho; Shihou Hapou Shuriken no Maki!" they shouted in unison, and threw shuriken all over the place. Sasuke cursed. There was no way he could avoid this one.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he said, figuring that the very least he could do would be to wound Naruto as well. He breathed out a huge portion of flame which could easily kill a person.

"NARUTO! SASUKE! YAMETE!" shouted a familiar voice.

Naruto turned his head. "Iruka-sensei! Don't!--"

If Naruto's world was like a piece of fragile china that had been dropped on the floor, it was now a piece of china that had been dropped on the floor, stamped on, deliberately broken into puny crumbs, and scattered all over the universe.

The smoke cleared.

* * *

(1) Momo loves Koko, as in, Izumo loves Kotetsu.

end chapter  
Kaori is pleased with herself. Hee hee. I'm cruel, ain't I? Yeah, I love you too.

Review!


	5. Chapter 5: Smoke

**Zephyr.  
chapter.five:.:smoke**

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Disclaimer; Nope, don't own Naruto, whotcher gunna do 'bout it?

Be warned; NejiSaku ShikaIno KakaIru SasuNaru  
Kaori-chan wrote this chapter totally by herself because I love being emo. (:

Note: Well, our chapter names got a little mixed up, so we've fixed that. Sorry 'bout it.

PS: Thank you reviewers, we loved you.

* * *

Iruka-sensei was crouched over, his front-side burnt, in his back embedded many shuriken. "Yamete…onegai." He whispered hoarsely, before collapsing on his left and passing out.

* * *

Genma smirked, walking side-by-side with Raidou, before he realized there was a lot of smoke up ahead. "Raidou! C'mon, let's go see what's going on!" he said, before running up ahead to investigate.Naruto, devastated, dropped onto his knees, looking emptily at the sky, and then his knees gave way, too, and he slumped onto the ground, not bothering to pull himself up. Tears flowed freely from his orbs of blue as he cried. He should have known that something like this would happen. He would have known. He should have thought that Iruka-sensei would surely take the blow for him.

Sasuke's onyx orbs flickered, and if Naruto was looking up he could've sworn that teme looked sad for a moment. However, he sneered instead, and darted away.

Genma and Raidou came running into the clearing, looking around until their eyes rested on the collapsed chuunin teacher and the blonde who was sobbing hysterically.

"Iruka? …Iruka? Shit, Raidou, we have to get him to the hospital!" Genma's eyes widened as he realized the traces of Sasuke having been there—his clan _was_ a Fire-Jutsu using clan, and no doubt Naruto had been fighting with him. He knew Iruka had intercepted the fight, the loving soul that he was.

_Sasuke…What are you doing?! Naruto…you should've known better than to fight with him. Anything—anything! Iruka…we all knew you loved your students, but never this much. I guess this shows we're all wrong, huh? _

Ignoring the blonde for the moment Genma ran over to Iruka and gathered him in his arms.

"Naruto…go home. You need to rest," he advised, somewhat disappointed in Sasuke for doing such a thing. He didn't know them like their sensei did, but still…! Turning around, he headed off to the hospital, where medic nins would be Iruka's only hope.

* * *

Naruto slowly dragged himself up. Eyes filled with pain looked around the clearing. Burnt trees. Stray shuriken all over the place. He…he didn't want this.

He never did.

_Sasuke, is this good enough for you? _

Naruto sloppily tree-hopped back to the village.

Being in an emotionally unstable state, he didn't even do anything to stop himself from falling when he lost his chakra molding for a moment. Almost like an empty plastic figurine, he landed and stared emptily at the tree root.

_Momo loves Koko, huh?_ He thought, staring at it. _Lucky. Real lucky. _

Turning around, he headed back home.

"Genma-san, he is in very critical condition," a brunette nurse told Genma and Raidou.

"Kakashi…he would kill me. Chidori my ass, chop me up, and throw my powdered bits over the edge of a cliff. Look, if it hasn't occurred to you, I think they may have something going on. I don't know _what_, okay, but…please. Save Iruka, okay?"

The brunette medic nin, understanding, nodded and gave him a small smile before she hurried back in to put her chakra into helping Iruka.

Tsunade, leaning against a wall, raised one blonde eyebrow. Oh, this was news, alright.

* * *

Naruto stumbled into his apartment, not even sparing ramen a thought, and locked the door.

Ignoring the giant hole in the wall he went upstairs to his bed, and started crying.

_Sasuke… you're hiding, aren't you. _

Finally realized the extent of what you've done?

Now everybody's confused, and the people who could probably sort it out…

Are on a mission.

You're using their absence to your advantage, aren't you.

Smokescreen…

You're hiding underneath the smoke.

Why, teme? Why? Did I do anything to you? I know we were rivals…

But I thought we'd long outgrown that.

Thought we were really good friends.

Said you didn't want to hurt me.

Bleeding is breathing.

Maybe that really is true.

Yeah, I may sound like an idiot…

But I don't think I can actually feel pain anymore.

Dead last, I've always been that, haven't I?

So it's no wonder I can't figure out why the hell you did such a thing, isn't it, teme?

_**Isn't it? **_

_I can't even really cry anymore. _

I'm not pushing the blame to you, but…

_If it wasn't for you… _

You and your reason, I don't know what the hell it is, but it's got to be something twisted…

Iruka-sensei would be just fine, at home.

Why would you try to kill me? Why? _**Why?**_

I can't really cry any more. My eyes're red, I probably look stupider than ever in my whole, pathetic, sixteen years of life, and my mouth is dry.

Hell, I've forgotten how to cry. I've never really cried before. Growing up shunned made me immune to most things, and I never cried at even the things that might have some adults shedding tears.

You make me cry so easily.

I wonder why.

Naruto slowly drew a kunai from his pouch, and stabbed himself in the shoulder, relishing the feeling of the pain and the warm blood dripping down. He smiled bitterly. He wouldn't totally give in to the pain, no, not just yet. Pulling the kunai out and throwing it at his wall, he slumped against his pillow.

He pulled out a first aid kit from under his bed and quickly bandaged his wound; it felt refreshing, somehow, but he didn't want to die because of a strange whim he'd just had.

Without bothering to keep the box properly, he closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.

**Dream sequence  
**_Naruto grinned happily, running around in a flower field with Sakura. _

"Ne, ne, Naruto-chan," she said, "I've got a friend for you to meet!"

Sakura suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Sasuke.

"Sa-sasuke?" he asked, hesitantly.

Sasuke said nothing; he merely looked up, eyes glinting, and began chasing Naruto.

Naruto began running, crying again. He couldn't hide it, could he? He couldn't hide the past. No matter what he would always be fox-boy.

_  
Kyuubi-container. _

Dobe.

Dead-last.

Even his best friend-excuse the mistake, his supposed best friend- was rejecting him now.

Somehow, that Sasuke cut him all over the back, and he fell forward.

His face in the mud, he wanted to cry, but didn't.

Instead he used all of his strength to pull himself up.

There was smoke all over the place.

So, you're really hiding, ne, Sasuke? Naruto thought angrily to himself.

Suddenly, he felt hands push him from behind.

He fell.

And nobody was there to catch him as he fell.  
**end dream sequence**

**  
**Naruto woke up in a cold sweat. Sasuke…he wasn't worth it. He didn't know what or why or whatever, but…

He needed to get away from Sasuke. Everybody.

_Just…go away. Go away. Go away. Leave me alone just…just leave me…go…_

He grabbed some necessary things he figured he'd need, and, seeing it was already night, he exited through the huge hole in his wall.

Into the darkness of night, where there would be nobody that could scorn him.

Yes…yes. He could hide in the night and its blanket of black.

**

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end chapter  
Yeah, sad enough for you?**


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